Downsizing, what to do with old hard drive data?

[owlface]

I am selling my desktop machines and moving down to just my laptop. I have a few hard drives with data that I would however like to keep. Can I buy an external enclosure and pop in the hard drives when ever I need to collect data from them and put it on my laptop?

 

[0roo0roo]

do not rely on a single backup

 

[owlface]

ok, I am not sure how that helps

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: owlface
I am selling my desktop machines and moving down to just my laptop. I have a few hard drives with data that I would however like to keep. Can I buy an external enclosure and pop in the hard drives when ever I need to collect data from them and put it on my laptop?

You certianly can. External enclosures are a great way to keep and old hard disk going. Just don't get the cheapest one you can find. Quality is important here.

 

[owlface]

What should I look for? Will I be able to contect both SATA and IDE hard drives?

 

[CrashX]

You could get something like this which is an IDE and SATA to USB adapter. I have used them before when I need to get data off of customers hard drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16812246003

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: owlface
ok, I am not sure how that helps

it works, just know that drive could also suddenly fail and take all your backed data with it.

 

[owlface]

Is there anything to look for when buying the external cover?

 

[corkyg]

There are several factors involved with external drive cases. There are lots of good ones.

3.5-in drive cases require their own power source. They can be had in 3 interface types: eSATA, USB, and Firewire. I find the eSATA and USB combo to be the most useful. Internally, they will be either SATA or PATA. There is no space for converter devices in an external case, but that can be rigged with the right cables.

2.5-in cases generally follow the same rules except most do not have their own power sources. Most will need some power other than the connector - this is done by a small 5 vdc source or a second USB link that has a power tip.

I have a pretty good supply of used HDDs, mostly PATA. My new systems are all SATA. I have all my digital imagery stored on externals - triple redundancy (that keeps the odds in my favor.)

My main system has a SATA RAID i array for data. That provides some redundancy, but then that array is backed up to an external drive as well. That adds to the robustness of the backup. RAID i is not really a backup, but does provide a safety net in the event of failure of one of the mirror drives.

For data transfer speed, my choices are, 1st - eSATA; 2nd - Firewire; and 3rd - USB.

 

[sutahz]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: owlface
ok, I am not sure how that helps

it works, just know that drive could also suddenly fail and take all your backed data with it.

The problem being that owlface didnt ask about data backup he simply asked how he can keep the data from his desktop that he's selling and access it on his laptop. An external enclosure for each hdd is perfect for that. Given time, he may even consolidate the 2 or 3 hdds down to 1 or 2.

Lets recap:
"I have a few hard drives with data that I would however like to keep."
to which you replied
"do not rely on a single backup"
Atfq.